The inventive concept relates generally to electronic memory technologies. More particularly, the inventive concept relates to techniques for improving storage capacity and/or performance in various types of memory devices or systems.
Computer systems commonly use several types of memory devices having varying levels of storage capacity and performance. For example, most computer systems use a main memory comprising semiconductor devices having relatively fast access speed and providing temporary data storage, and a long-term memory having larger capacity and configured to provide persistent data storage.
In an effort to improve the overall performance and functionality of computer systems and other electronic equipment, researchers are continually seeking to increase the storage capacity and speed of most types of memory devices. These efforts tend to be focused on either improvements in memory hardware, or improvements in processing techniques used to store and retrieve data. Examples of hardware improvements include increases in the integration density of memory cells and increases in data transfer speed. On the other hand, examples of processing improvements include improved compression techniques, error correction, caching, and data organization.